


Roses Fall, Thorns Remain

by Marinarasauce11



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Families of Choice, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-11-28 07:55:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18205655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marinarasauce11/pseuds/Marinarasauce11
Summary: "I won't pretend like this gang was ever perfect, we had our shares of trouble but we were a family and that meant something. Now...now we're lucky if there is a night where we aren't arguing or getting shot at. All he cares about is having more money, about having more power. And I am not sticking around to watch him destroy the last of my family. Uncle, Pearson, Mary-Beth. They had the right idea. And I am with you, Arthur, we get John and his family the hell out of this.""I'm getting you out of this too, Rose. Back to Charles."----Rosemary Tanner had been with the Van der Linde gang ever since Hosea and Arthur found her half dead lying in a ditch. They took her in, fixed her up and welcomed her with open arms. In those past five years, they became her family, even if she didn't always get along with some of them. The night of the ferry job changed everything and it felt like she could do was watch the new world destroy everything she has got. But, she has always been a fighter.





	1. Camp Chatter

**Author's Note:**

> Before I start the actual story, I wanted to give you a feel for Rose around the camp and the others also because it’s super fun to write these. I did the formatting as a script format simply because it’s a simple dialogue back and forth. The story itself will not be formatted like so. Enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is simply some camp chatter to give you a feel of Rose and also because it's fun to write. The format is script style simply because it is quick back and forth dialogue. The actually one-shots will be formatted in third person. After I finish my first actual chapter I will accept possible one-shot suggestions. Enjoy!

**Mary-Beth** : Did you like the book?  
**Rose** : I don’t think I understood it, I could read it well enough but...  
**Mary Beth** : What do you mean?  
**Rose** : Why would she give up everything for him? Sell herself for him?  
**Mary-Beth:** I suppose it’s because she loves him.  
**Rose** : [sighs softly] Mary Beth...don't ever think for a second that love means giving everything to someone else. Love is mutual, it isn’t supposed to be selfish.  
**Mary-Beth** : Have you ever been in love?  
**Rose** : A long time ago.  
**Mary-Beth** : [giggles] You aren’t the much older than me.  
**Rose** : Perhaps, but sometimes feels like things that happened only a few years ago were decades.

* * *

 **Sean** : How can you stand spending time with him, Rose? All he does is brood and play the harmonica.  
 **Rose** : You realize he can hear you right? He is sitting right besides me.  
 **Sean** : Oh come on Rosie, you know I’m so much more fun than him.  
 **Rose** : Should I ask Karen for confirmation?  
 **Charles** : [chuckles]

* * *

 

 **Micah** : Hey halfbreed, come here!  
**Rose** : Excuse me?  
**Micah** : Why don’t you come to warm my tent? [grabs her arm]  
**Rose** : Get your hand off me.  
**Micah** : Oh come on-  
**Rose** : [unsheaths a knife and points it towards his thigh] You touch me again and I will cut your cock off.

* * *

 

 **Rose** : You just going to stand there staring at me?  
**Abigail** : I’m worried.  
**Rose** : Arthur and Javier will be back with John so can give him the worst verbal lashing he has ever gotten.  
**Abigail** : [laughs softly] If he...  
**Rose** : He won’t be, it’s John we are talking about. He could get shot and fall off a moving train and walk it off. What he lacks in common sense he makes up for with durability.  
**Abigail** : That’s not funny.  
**Rose** : You’re smiling.

* * *

 

 **Tilly** : So...you and Charles?  
**Rose** : Hmm? What about Charles?  
**Tilly** : Don’t play coy with me, Rosemary. I’ve seen the way you two look at each other and sneak off in the middle of the night.  
**Rose** : I’ll have to tell Charles we need to be stealthier when we leave to hunt.  
**Tilly** : [huffs] You aren’t hunting.  
**Rose** : Oh? So I didn’t bring the deer back for the stew tonight?  
**Tilly** : Rose!  
**Rose** : That’s my name.

* * *

 

 **Hosea** : Come beat me as dominos, Rose!  
**Rose** : Considering you taught me I don’t think it’ll be much of a competition.  
**Hosea** : [stage whispers] We can get Arthur to join, give you someone more your skill level.  
**Arthur** : Very funny, I beat Rose the last time.  
**Rose** : Then I suppose it’s time for my rematch.

* * *

 

 **Rose** : You did good, just have to be careful with the recoil.  
**Karen** : Thanks, for taking me out to shoot. None of the boys, other than Sean, would. And he just wanted to get up my skirt.  
**Rose** : Us girls got to stick together in this man’s world.  
**Karen** : Even Molly?  
**Rose** : Even Molly.

* * *

 

 **Rose** : Miss O’Shea?  
**Molly** : Rose, please it’s Molly to you.  
**Rose** : I found something you might like, don’t ask where it came from. It’s a book of poetry, I can’t tell if it’s any good but I know you enjoy this sort of thing.  
**Molly** : Oh...thank you.  
**Rose** : I know the other girls aren’t...great to you but you are apart of the gang and that means you’re family.

* * *

 

 **Uncle** : Oh come on Rose, it’s an easy job. You go in and distract while Sean and I will go into the man’s room and take all the money he has been boasting about.  
**Rose** : Why haven’t you asked Karen or Mary Beth? They are better at that then I am.  
**Uncle** : Well because of he-well he-  
**Sean** : He likes his women with a bit of color to their skin.  
**Rose** : Absolutely not.  
**Uncle** : Come on, Rose!  
**Rose** : Over my dead body.

* * *

 

 **Rose** : I’m sorry about Jenny, she was a sweet girl.  
**Lenny** : She was too much for me.  
**Rose** : [chuckles] Perhaps, but she was sweet on you too.  
**Lenny** : [sighs]  
**Rose** : You’re young, you’ll find someone again. Someone who makes you feel like everything bad about you is good.  
**Lenny** : Is that how Charles makes you feel?  
**Rose** : Yes. Just don’t tell Tilly.

* * *

 

 **Rose** : Arthur...I’m worried.  
**Arthur** : You? One of the craziest women I know are worried?  
**Rose** : I’m serious. Dutch...I think he is losing it. That girl on the ferry, and how it’s just one plan after another. Now playing the Greys and the Braithwaites against each other.  
**Arthur** : I know.  
**Rose** : Someone is going to end up dead if we aren’t careful.

* * *

 

 **John** : Stop it.  
**Rose** : Stop what?  
**John** : Glaring at me like you’re trying to Will me to speak to Abigail.  
**Rose** : I wasn’t. You should speak to her though. You left for a long time, left her to raise your son. Just because you don’t want to be a father don’t mean you’re not.  
**John** : Do you have to be right all the time?  
**Rose** : Not all the time, just a large majority.

* * *

 

 **Sadie** : They treat you differently than the other women.  
 **Rose** : They didn’t always, they put me on kitchen duty just like they did you.  
 **Sadie** : What changed?  
 **Rose** : One day the Callandar boys were messing with me, Mac more than Davey. Arthur and John were about to step in when I grabbed Mac’s arm and threw him on his ass. They stopped messing with me and Arthur asked if I could shoot.  
 **Sadie** : How long have you been with the gang?  
 **Rose** : About five years ago, I was twenty-one. Arthur, John, Abigail, Hosea. They took care of me, I was in a bad spot when I came in. Hosea and Arthur found me near death, brought me to camp and I stuck around.

* * *

 

 **Jack** : Auntie Rose?  
 **Rose** : Yes, Jack?  
 **Jack** : Where are your parents?  
 **Abigail** : Jack!  
 **Rose** : It’s okay. I didn’t know my father, he was a bad man and left me with my mother before I was born. She was a good woman though, always tried to take care of me. She got sick when I was little though and I was placed from family to family within my tribe until my fifteenth year. I left and traveled around until your uncle Arthur and Hosea found me.  
 **Jack** : Do you miss your momma?  
 **Rose** : All the time, but I know one day I’ll get to see her again.

* * *

 

 **Dutch** : Where you going, Rose?  
 **Rose** :Into town, following up on the rumors that there might be some rich banker skimming off the top that I can rob.  
 **Dutch** : Let Micah and Javier know if you find anything.  
 **Rose** : What? It will be an easy job, I can do it.  
 **Dutch** : You heard me, Rosemary.  
 **Rose** : Trust goes both ways, Dutch.  
 **Dutch** : Watch your temper with me, girl. It's only because of my kindness that you are alive. 

* * *

 

 **Rose** : Stop moving, I don't want to pull your hair.  
 **Charles** : I could have done this myself.  
 **Rose** : Perhaps, but I can do it better and the braid will last longer than a few days. One of the women from my mother's tribe taught me the more intricate braids, they can take longer to do but they will last twice as long.   
 **Charles** : Why do you say your mother's and not your own?  
 **Rose** : Because I don't consider to be apart of a tribe, even there I was still the girl who had a white father. And outside the tribe I was the woman with a native mother.   
 **Charles** : I understand.  
 **Rose** : There, all done. 

 


	2. The Beginning of the End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited: March 24th

Rose could hardly believe what had happened, one moment they were in camp and everything was normal. The next moment they were run out of town because of some job gone wrong. What the hell happened on that ferry? Hopefully one of the men would tell her, as much as she hated being out of the loop they didn’t have time for her to prod them with questions. She pulled her coat around her tighter, they weren’t prepared for the snow or the freezing air since it was May. The wind was whipping her hair all over the place, and she pulled the rim of her hat down not wanting to risk losing one of the few things that were providing her with any warmth. She was a bit disappointed she didn’t have time to grab all her things, a few more of the animal hides would be useful now as they ventured up into the mountains. 

The large gray shire horse neighed beneath her, pushing them through the snow. Rose frowned, she hated working the creatures for so long but she knew that it wouldn't be long before they would set up camp since Dutch sent some of the others out to scout ahead. She brushed her hand across the mare’s neck, shushing her softly. “I know, Athena, I know.”

Rose glanced up, she was between Lenny’s and Charles’ as they followed the end of the caravan, making sure they weren't following. While it was harder to tell in the darkness she could see the sad expression on the younger boy’s face. Jenny hadn’t made it. The young firecracker of a girl almost reminded Rose of herself when she first left home. Still adventurous, flirty and naive; hadn’t quite felt the reality of the world bare down on her shoulders. Now she was another one dead to add on the long list of those they lost. Annabelle, Bessie, Jenny. It was likely Sean and Mac were dead too, and she didn’t have much faith that Davey would make it past the night.

She nearly opened her mouth to say something to Lenny, offer her condolences or say it was the way their life was. It didn’t seem right though and she knew it wouldn’t make a difference to him if she said something or nothing. Instead, she glanced over towards her right side examining Charles for any indication on what happened on the ferry. He barely showed any emotion, which wasn't unusual for him. If it wasn’t for the piece of cloth wrapped around his hand she likely wouldn’t have ever known he was on the ferry.

The yell of Dutch telling everyone to come on signaled that they were close to a place to camp and Rose found herself letting out a soft sigh of relief. They rode for only a few minutes longer before coming to an old mining town that was covered in a thick layer of soot and snow. Likely the mine had dried out before the winter arrived. While it had been bad news for someone, it was good news for them. Rose dismounted, nuzzling Athena’s head before guiding her towards the barn so she could have a bit of warmth as the others clamored out of the wagons and into one of the buildings. She led Athena inside, making a mental note that there would be enough room for them to place the draft horses in the barn as well. Content she had done all she could at the moment, Rose slipped into the side door of what was likely an old chapel just in time to hear one of Dutch’s famous speeches.

“Listen, listen to me, all of you for a moment. Now we’ve had, well a bad couple of days. I loved Davey, Jenny. Sean, Mac they may be okay, we don’t know. But we lost some folks. Now if I could throw myself in the ground in their stead, I’d do it...gladly. But we are going to ride out and we are going to find some food. Everybody we’re safe now, there ain’t nobody following us through a storm like this one and by the time they get here well we’re going to be long gone. We’ve been through worse than this before. Mr. Pearson, Miss Grimshaw, I need you to turn this place into a camp. We may be here for a few days. Now all of you, all of you. Get yourself warm, stay strong. Stay with me. We aren’t done yet, come with me, Arthur.” With those last words, Dutch turned and left, Arthur trailing behind him.

Miss Grimshaw was quick to take charge as the door closed. “Alright everyone, start unloading the wagons and bringing everything into here. Pearson, we have some canned food you can make something for everyone to eat. Tilly, Mary-Beth, Karen, start cleaning up in here. Rose, get Charles, take what horses you can into the stable and make sure they are settled, we will need them to get out of here soon.”

Rose quickly nodded, knowing better than to argue with Miss Grimshaw, not that she wanted to. She headed outside, Charles was already tending to some of the horses and together they worked quickly and quietly. One by one she calmed the horses down as Charles brought them in, checking them over to make sure none of them were hurt. As soon as she was sure the horses were alright she searched through satchel finding a wrap of herbs that would help with infection and pain. She made a beeline straight for Charles, finding him starting to patrol the perimeter of their new camp. 

"Didn't Dutch tell you to get inside and get warm?" She raised a brow at him, Charles had only been with the gang for about six months but he knew there were two women you did not argue within the gang. Miss Grimshaw and Rose. 

"You going to tell on me?" He replied smoothly, looking down at her. She only rolled her eyes before grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the chapel. 

They stepped inside, Charles taking a seat towards the back as to not disturb the others who were crouched around the fireplace and eating various canned goods. Rose borrowed the mortar and pestle from Hosea, grinding the herbs into a thick paste before sitting down besides Charles. 

“Let me see your hand.” It wasn’t really a request and as Charles glanced up seeing Rose’s face he understood it wasn't. He sighed softly and relented, holding his hand out to her. She was gentle as she took his large hand into her smaller ones, slowly and carefully unwrapping the wound. It was a nasty burn across the palm of his hand and she figured it was likely causing him a lot more pain then he would dare to admit. “How did this happen?”

“I burned it when we ran through the engine room in the ferry, I was stupid and careless.” He admitted, clenching his jaw as she began to place the herbal paste over the burn.

Rose looked up to examine Charles’ profile, seeing the way the muscles in his jaw moved but otherwise was stoically taking the pain. She noticed that he did that often as if he thought he deserved the pain he was given.

“What happened on that ferry, Charles?” Rose asked softly, glancing back to his hand as she gently began to rewrap the wound.

“I don’t really know, I wasn’t with Dutch when it turned sour. It was bad though, Rose, he shot a girl point blank from what Javier said. Then the Pinkertons were on us almost immediately like they knew we were going to be there.”

“It isn’t like Dutch and Micah were quiet about what they were planning. We had a lot of heat on us already and then a ferry with way too much money in it shows up in Blackwater? I warned Dutch I thought it could be a trap.” She sighed softly, her fingers sliding over his before letting it go as she finished.

“We will be fine, Rose, you are even more pessimistic than I am.” He smirked a bit, causing Rose to shake her head with a smile.

“Stick around a few more years and you will be as jaded as I am.”

Charles reached out, pushing the rim of Rose’s hat down playfully. Rose grinned, swatting his hand away as she fixed her hat. It was nice getting to see Charles smile, seeing him more relaxed and not baring so much weight on his shoulders. Their sweet moment was interrupted though as Lenny yelled from outside that Dutch was back. She was quick to stand, heading out with Hosea to meet them. Arthur and Micah followed Dutch on their horses who had a new companion wrapped in a blanket behind him. Rose had slightly hoped that Micah would have gotten lost in the storm and she wouldn't have to see him for a while at least. Miss Grimshaw was quick to get everyone to their makeshift rooms for the night. If there was anything to say about Miss Grimshaw it was that she was always efficient. Rose followed Mary-Beth and Tilly into the chapel as they guided the new woman, who Dutch had referred to as Mrs. Adler. When the name O'Driscoll came up she knew there would be trouble. Dutch rarely passed an opportunity to fuck with the Colm O'Driscoll. Little did she know just how much trouble they would get into on that mountain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a Pinterest board for Rose: https://www.pinterest.com/ontothedarkness/rpg-random-characters/rdr2-rosemary-tanner/


	3. Ghosts That We Knew

The past few days had been rough on the gang, the cold, the lack of food and the enclosed spaces were beginning to put everyone on edge. Rose could feel Abigail’s anxiety as she sat besides her, playing with Jack. John hadn’t come back from scouting and the storm made it near impossible for them to look. Rose knew he was alright, cold and hungry likely but alright. It was John, after all, he had stupid luck when it came to survival. Still Rose understood why Abigail was worried, they were basically married without the vows and wedding ring.

Rose watched from her position besides Jack as Arthur walked in and Abigail quickly stood. She chuckled a bit, knowing the woman was about to beg Arthur to find John. She only half listened as Hosea enlisted Javier and told them to go look for John, she kissed Jack on the forehead as she stood up. When they brought John back he would be in for an ear full. Rose went outside to trade patrolling duty with Lenny. They hadn’t spoken much, other than words when they switched their shifts. She had been musing what to say to him, losing someone you cared about was never easy. She knew that well.

“You alright?” Rose asked softly, taking the rifle from Lenny as they began to walk around the perimeter. 

“I’m...doing as well as I can be. I just keep thinking about my last conversation with her, how I was upset because she was stringing me along. If I could take it back, I would.” 

“You can’t think about the bad, I know it’s easy to do but the memories you have of her...you’ll taint how she lived with how she died.”

Lenny looked over at Rose at that point who was doing her best to look anywhere but him. It was difficult for her to talk about loss and the weight that came with it. Too many memories came to the surface, Lenny was likely one of the few men around the camp that she felt comfortable sharing with. She often viewed Hosea as a surrogate father, Arthur as a protective big brother, and Lenny, despite not knowing him as long as the others, like a little brother. While she trusted other members of the gang as well it wasn’t quite the same. 

“You’ve never told me what happened to your husband,” Lenny noted softly.

Rose was surprised by his words, not many people knew she had been married. She raised a brow at him, glancing at him sideways. “I don’t speak about him often, I was a little younger than you when I met him. He didn’t judge the color of my skin, he liked me for me but his family despised me. It was a whirlwind sort of romance, we fell in love quickly and got married even quicker. When his family found out, we ran and tried to make a life of our own, it didn’t last. You know what it’s like, not everyone is accepting. One night we were held up by some men who didn’t like the look of us, they killed him and left me for dead.”

“Then Hosea and Arthur found you?” 

She nodded slowly, her throat suddenly dry as she tried to swallow. “I don’t remember much of it, I was out of it when they found me. Miss Grimshaw said I was lucky to be alive with the amount of blood that was on my clothes. A gunshot and a few stab wounds, scars for me to always remember him by. My Thomas. Arthur brought me back to where they found me, luckily Thomas’ body was still there, he is buried up on a hill overlooking Blackwater.”

“Rose...I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

“Stop Lenny, it’s fine. If this was a few years back I wouldn’t be able to talk about it at all but now...it helps me remember. I try not to focus too much on how it ended and instead on how Thomas was in life. He was so smart, and carefree. Always did his best to help people when he could. That’s how we met actually, he noticed I was having a hard time reading some of the signs in the general store and he offered to teach me how to read. He ended up telling me later that he offered to do it in the first place because he thought I was pretty.” She chuckled softly, reminiscing on her time with him. 

“He sounds like he was a good man.” Lenny smiled softly, watching the smile reach Rose’s eyes. “I wish I could have met him.”

“He would have loved you, you two could discuss whatever you read in those books of yours.” She grinned, shaking her head before letting out a soft sigh. “If there is one thing I have learned about this world, Lenny, it’s that good men and women are always taken from this world before their time.”

It’s that very reason that Rose didn’t try to be a good woman, she just did what she had to survive and protect those she cared about. Lenny frowned at her words, his brows furrowing slightly as he processed her pessimistic life view. Rose could tell that Lenny felt a bit of turmoil over her words, she smiled, reaching out and patting his shoulder. “Don’t think too hard about it, go inside, get warm and get some delicious canned food.”

She didn’t give him any time to argue, pushing his shoulder lightly before turning on her heels and walking back around the perimeter. Rose had to do some processing of her own, it wasn’t often she talked about Thomas and while it was nice it still hurt even after all these years. When she made her fifth circle around the perimeter, she was torn from her thoughts at the sound of hoof beats. Arthur and Javier must be back with John. 

Rose was quick to sling the rifle over her shoulder, heading towards the front of the chapel to meet the men as she called out to Abigail. She wasn’t surprised to see John was hurt, she knew that there had to have been a good reason as to why he hadn’t made it back. She was surprised to see that his face was sliced up. She would have her work cut out for her fixing him up. While Miss Grimshaw could clean a wound and put on some bandages, Rose was better with various herbs and stitches. Something she was taught when she lived with her mother’s tribe when she was younger, the value of knowing which plants could heal and which ones could kill. They were lucky that between Hosea and her there were enough herbs for a few weeks while they are stuck up in the mountains, just as long as no one else got hurt.

As soon as they placed John down in a cot at the back of the cabin Rose got to work, having Hosea help her grind up herbs as she began to clean the cuts on John’s face. “Well, I’ll be damned if Abigail doesn’t leave you now. Since you went and marred up your good looks.” She teased as she began the suturing process. John moved his arms giving her a rude gesture in return, knowing that he couldn’t say anything while she had a needle in his face. 

“Don’t worry, I will try to put you back together as best I can. For her benefit of course.” Rose liked teasing John about his relationship with Abigail, mostly because he was an idiot who didn’t seem to realize the kind of love he had right in front of him. Perhaps his brush with death would make him more amicable in the future. 

It took a little while for her to finish with John and by the time she was finished he was out from the pain and the rum they got from Pearson. Rose thanked Hosea and Miss Grimshaw for their help before stepping outside to use the snow to clean the blood off her hands. She kneeled down, brushing the snow across her fingers and watching the white go to a soft pink to a darker red. She frowned as she started using the snow to scrub the blood from her skin. The memories of that night five years ago playing in her head. The blood on her hands that night as she tried to stop Thomas from bleeding out. His pleading voice. Their laughs. She had to get the blood off. 

“Rose!” Charles broke her from her thoughts, her head snapping up to see him standing above her looking at her hands concerned. They were red, raw and she only just began to notice how the snow was beginning to burn at her skin. “You alright?”

Rose let out a shaky breath, pulling her hands into her chest slightly as she tried to think of what to say, of some excuse as to why she was doing it. That she wasn’t having a mental break, that she wasn’t a liability.

“Rose, hey, look at me.” Charles squatted down in front of her, reaching out and forcing her to meet his eyes. “You’re here at camp, you’re safe.”

A warm feeling waved over her at those words as she began to repeat them over and over in her head. “I’m sorry, I just...it’s nothing. I just needed to get the blood off my hands.”

“Come on, let’s go for a ride. See if we can find any game for Pearson.” Charles stood, offering her his hand which she took gratefully.

He released her hand as they started heading towards the stables, he didn’t speak, leaving them in a comfortable silence. Rose pulled her gloves back on hastily, suddenly glad her hat made it difficult to see just how embarrassed she was at being caught like that. As she stepped into the stables, going to grab both Athena and Taima’s reins, Charles let Pearson know they were going hunting. There was only a little communication between Rose and Charles as they got on their horses and rode out. Charles couldn’t do much hunting with his burned hand but he was a better tracker so between the two of them they were able to snag two deer. It wasn’t until their ride back that Rose decided to break the silence.

“I’m sorry you saw me like that. I don’t...it doesn’t happen often, I just...I get to into my own head-”

Charles was quick to interrupt, shaking his head. “You don’t have to apologize, you’re human there is no shame in that. We all have our burdens to bear, some more than others. And we all deal with it in a different way, if it starts happening again, come to me.”

Rose glanced over to him, it felt nice having someone know about the fits she sometimes had. That he didn’t judge her for them, that even helped calm her down from one of them. It was like a bit of a weight lifted off her shoulders. “Charles...thank you for your help.”

“Always.” He smiles so subtly that if she hadn’t been watching him intently she would have missed it. “Whatever you need Rose, I’m here.”

**Author's Note:**

> Originally this was going to be a collection of one-shots but I quickly decided I wanted it to be an entire story.


End file.
